There exists a need for the removal of unwanted hair to maintain a desirable physical appearance. There are many different devices known in the art that are useful for removing unwanted hair, such as razors, tweezers, and other depilatory devices.
Although razors provide quick and easy hair removal, hair remains visible at the surface of the skin and quickly regrows. Therefore one must shave frequently in order to maintain smooth skin and a desired appearance. Tweezers also may be used. Prior art tweezers comprise two arms that are resiliently biased away from each other, each arm having an opposing surface. The hair is positioned between the two opposing surfaces, and the arms are pressed together, thereby grasping the hair between the two opposing surfaces of the tweezer arms. The hair is then plucked from the body. Tweezers provide longer-lasting hair removal. However, removing hair with tweezers is a tedious process since traditional tweezers can remove only one hair at a time. In addition, precise handling is required in order to position and grasp the hair between the two, usually small, opposing surfaces.
In processes involving the uprooting of hair, care must be taken so that the hair is not inadvertently cut. In addition, it is desirable to pull out as many hairs as quickly as possible and as painlessly as possible.
Various devices are known in the art for hair removal, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,233 to Dolev ("Dolev patent"). The Dolev hair removal device generally comprises a housing and a hair-plucking assembly rotatably mounted to the housing. The hair plucking assembly includes at least one disc assembly comprising (i) a pair of complementary discs, each of the discs having at least three radially extending arms terminating in flattened peripheral portions which, when pressed against the corresponding portion of the arms of the other disc forms a trap for the hair; and (ii) a hub for accommodating and rotating the pair of discs so that the flattened peripheral portions of the discs are alternately brought together to form a trap and apart to eject the removed hair.
There is a need, however, for a depilatory device, which is as easy and inexpensive to assemble and maintain as prior art devices, but has an even larger trap area for grasping unwanted hair so that a greater number of hairs may be uprooted than is currently possible. There is also a need for a depilatory device that minimizes the pain associated with uprooting hair.